Someone Else's Kingdom, BOOK I - Chapter 14

"I would give you those fifty ingkhs, Julen, it's just I'm a little shy at the moment," piped up Eldskeep, hesitatingly, breaking the silence. This being the very first mention of the card game since the four had left the tavern. Box wasn't too impressed at all, and still felt that their riding companion should have paid his share, or, more to point, not played the game at all. Especially with him being so much the older and more worldly, and no doubt more wealthy too. However, she kept quiet, and just moodily glanced over at him as he said this. Julen, conversely, was rather unbothered about the whole money thing. It was more the mild embarrassment that still troubled him.

"I should've played the 'wounded king' card ..what was I thinking?"

"You had drunk a little too much," comforted Eldskeep, taking on the air of an older mentor once again, imparting wisdom. "You just needed a slightly calmer head on your shoulders. They could read your moves. You need to be like me. A steely expression. Never give them a hint."

"I was a little lightheaded, I guess. I think it was that third drink - I was completely fine until then."

"Pace yourself when drinking, pace yourself ..but don't be too hard on yourself, you'll learn. Plus, it's all experience. You be more than ready next time."

"Next time?" seethed Box.

"Well, not right away, of course. We will need to have a drink for sure though when we arrive in Maiden's Tower though. To celebrate a successful journey so far. It would be wrong not to. Plus, the clientele is of quite a different character in the Maiden Lands. We'll be the rogues when we get there. If a similar situation arises, I'm sure we'll comfortably win our losses back, and more to boot."

"I'm not too sure about winning any money back, but as long as we get to Maiden's Tower in one piece - with no more hiccups, perhaps we'll have the drink. Perhaps."

At this point Goola, who'd fell asleep in the cart, awoke. She'd been asleep well over an hour. The boredom and the silence allowing her to drift off under the warm Sun. Now awake, she instantly looked around to get accustomed to their current location. The cart clattering along the cobbled road at a fair pace. Expecting the mood of the other three to be little changed to how it was when drifted off she was surprised to find a slight touch of normality had returned.

"You've been out quite a while. It's almost evening," bellowed Eldskeep, from his short distance away. His heavy horse alongside the bobbling cart.

The road they were currently travelling along was much wider than the earlier roads they'd used. In the far distance they could make out the odd horseman or carriage. The traffic noticeably more busy. Julen, sat at the front of the cart, with his arms around his knees, lent over, and nudged Goola with his elbow. "If you look far enough forward, to the left of that hill, you can see Patina. Earlier, when we were higher up, we could even see the sea." Goola struggled to pick out the features he was pointing to, but feigned she could see them anyway. What she could see were the small homes and farmsteads dotted about to the left and the right. All looking not entirely dissimilar to her own, now missed, home.

In a nearby field they could see a scarecrow. Scruffily dressed, with a face more convivial than frightening. Clearly failing to do its job, as the surrounding field, of just mud and plough tracks, was filled with chickens. Clucking and pecking away at the ground.

"Quite a few kytalyk men in these parts," noted Eldskeep dryly. As if the chickens alone, along with the general scruffiness of the poor scarecrow, was enough to tell him that the field and its adjacent shack belonged to one.

"Our grandfather, Luteeay, is a kytalyk," perked up Box, As she said this she grabbed the reins of the horses slightly tighter, so she could turn back to engage with Eldskeep.

"I'll probably know him," stated Eldskeep in a casual tone, "In fact, I'm sure I do know him. The name definitely rings a bell."

"How would you know him?"

"Well, I'm quite well known myself. Like I said, I'm very well travelled. I've had dealings with most people. Many, many people. Often too many to keep track of. And that includes many kytalyk folk."

"What do you think of all that?" questioned Julen, eager to hear his view, "Do you think they really understand things? Or are they just old, peculiar guys?"

"Oh, it's all total nonsense."

As he said this Box turned back once again, instantly slighted. She herself shared his opinion for the most part, but it stung nonetheless.

"Don't get me wrong," continued Eldskeep, noting her response, "..They're good men, and they do a lot of good, but I just don't buy it."

"Do you believe the world is surrounded by a ring of fire?" inquired Box.

"No," came the emphatic reply.

"So what comes after the desert then?"

"I don't know ..perhaps it's just more desert, getting hotter and hotter. No one has tried and no one can try. It gets too hot. So how can we know? I've never been, and I've travelled through all the kingdoms."

"So, if it gets too hot, eventually it must become fire ..right?" quipped Box, with a firm logic.

"Maybe, but I'm a man of common sense. I only believe what I can see. I like to keep my feet on the ground. When I see a ring of fire myself, then I'll start believing there is one."

On hearing this Box felt a touch more respect. The scepticism appealed to her own tastes, though she didn't speak it out loud. In contrast, Goola, only just awake, and less enamoured with such questions, brushed it aside. As it passed through her mind however she began to notice Patina rising up in the distance from the horizon line. The glowing fire of the evening Sun mirroring the imagined fire of the outer desert. As her eyes cast down across the city silhouette it pulled her back down to tangible reality. The numerous stone towers, that Julen had tried to point out to her sleepy eyes just minutes earlier, now clearly visible against the backdrop of the blue-red sky. Further down the road they could see the bustle of traffic increasing even more so. They were now perhaps forty minutes from the city's perimeter, and would very soon be within its gates.